If you've overpaid on your property taxes, the city's Consolidated Tax Office will now notify you that you're owed a refund more than the one time required by law.

And if there's a duplicate payment made, the tax office will now notify all the people who've paid the identical taxes that a refund is due and give them 10 days to respond before issuing a check. The law only requires that the tax collector refund the taxes to the person who made the second payment, and doesn't require a notice.

"We're adopting policies that will streamline our refund practices by more clearly distinguishing overpayments from duplicate payments," said David Childs, the tax assessor/collector for the city's consolidated tax office.

REPORTER

Cindy Ramirez

The city of El Paso collects property taxes on behalf of nearly 40 taxing entities in the county, including the city, county, school districts and the hospital district.

Childs and city attorneys presented the changes to the once-troubled overpayment account during a special City Council meeting on Monday. The account had been the subject of an internal audit in 2012, when some accounting irregularities were found.

The Texas Tax Code states taxpayers must be mailed a notice accompanied by the refund application required by the state for any overpayment of $5 or more. The burden to apply for the refund is left to the taxpayer after that.

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But under the new policies, the tax office will send follow-up reminders in July or August every year for three years. The overpayments could also be applied to delinquent taxes owed by the taxpayer.

Under state law, if a refund is not requested within three years, the taxing entities keep the unclaimed funds.

Between $200,000 to $300,000 goes into the city's general fund from those unclaimed funds every year, said the city's Chief Financial Officer Carmen Arrieta Candelaria. Other taxing entities also get their share of the unclaimed funds according to the percentage of the tax bill they levy, she said.

"It could have some impact on our budget as more people claim their refunds for what they overpaid," Candelaria said.

The council commissioned a Tax Refunds Best Practices Committee in January after businessman Mike Dipp requested a $6,000 refund on an overpayment made more than three years ago. That led to questions about how the city, state and IRS handle refunds.

Requests for a refund can be made after three years if certain parameters are met. The tax office can make the refund of $2,500 or less after it determines it was an overpayment. Refunds of more than $2,500 require approval from the council or other governing body of the taxing entity.

The changes come nearly two years after an internal audit of the tax office showed nearly $1.2 million in accounting regularities within the overpayment account. That audit didn't find any money missing, and no taxpayers were denied refunds because of the mismanagement of the account, said Edmundo Calderon, the city's chief internal auditor.

Money from that overpayment account was being used to pay for operational expenses related to the tax office. Some of the money in the account had been used to pay the tax balances of $2 to $10 owed by some property owners — therefore improving the tax office's collection rate.

Calderon said the new policies are also part of a leadership change in the office

Former tax assessor-collector Juan Sandoval, who had been in the position 17 years, retired two days after that internal audit. An investigation followed, but no charges were filed, Calderon said.

A recent audit showed all the irregularities have been addressed, Calderon said.

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